Business briefs
Amazon Go grocery store in Seattle is checkout-free
Amazon is testing a grocery store model in Seattle that works without checkout lines. Called Amazon Go, shoppers scan their Amazon app when they enter the store, and then sensors register items that shoppers pick up and automatically charge them to the Amazon app. If a shopper puts the item back, they aren’t charged. The store offers ready-to-eat meals, staples like bread and milk and meal-making kits. The store is open to Amazon employees on a trial run. It is expected to open to the public in early 2017. The e-commerce powerhouse has also opened three bookstores in California, Oregon and Washington with traditional checkouts.
Gas prices may start rising as markets respond to OPEC plan
Gas prices in the region rose slightly in the last week, up 0.3 cents a gallon of regular to an average of $2.38, according to a price tracking website. GasBuddy’s survey of more than 700 gas outlets in the region found gas prices on Sunday were 13 cents higher than the same day a year earlier, but 4.5 cents lower than a month ago. Nationally, gas prices rose 4.4 cents per gallon in the last week to hit an average of $2.18 per gallon, the website found. Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, noted that OPEC signaled at a meeting in Vienna last week that it plans to slow crude oil production in an effort to increase prices. He said gas prices could rise in the next week as the markets respond to the plan.
United pays penalty for reviving route that helped public official
United Airlines’ parent company has agreed to pay a $2.4 million penalty for reinstating a money-losing route that gave a public official easier access to his vacation home. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and United Continental Holdings said they settled charges
over records violations in a civil case in which shareholders bore the cost of the route so the official — then the chairman of the agency that controls New York City-area airports, bridges and tunnels — could get more convenient flights. United reinstated the unprofitable nonstop flight between Newark, N.J., and Columbia, S.C., in 2012.
Credit Suisse fined over money-laundering controls
Credit Suisse Group AG will pay $16.5 million to settle Financial Industry Regulatory Authority claims that a U.S. unit violated rules meant to guard against money laundering. Finra said Credit Suisse Securities USA erred by relying on brokers to identify and escalate potentially suspicious trading and by failing to properly implement an automated surveillance system to monitor money movements. The bank agreed to resolve the case without admitting or denying Finra’s findings, which cover a period from January 2011 through September 2013.
Carrier, fresh off Trump talks, increases prices
Carrier Corp., the maker of air conditioners that was persuaded by President-elect Donald Trump to abort plans to close a U.S. factory, is increasing prices to stay
competitive. The United Technologies Corp. division that includes brands such as Carrier and Bryant will raise the amount it charges for residential and commercial HVAC equipment by as much as 5 percent. The change will go into effect Jan. 1. Shutting the gas-furnace plant and moving jobs abroad would have helped United Technologies save about $65 million a year. The company will receive an incentive package from Indiana worth $7 million to keep the facility open and invest $16 million in improvements.
Cars without drivers tow vehicles at Nissan plant
Nissan Motor Co. is testing self-driving cars at one of its plants in Japan that can tow vehicles on a trailer to the wharf for loading on transport ships. The Japanese automaker thinks the technology will, in the long run, save costs and boost efficiency. Nissan executive Haruhiko Yoshimura said the automaker hoped to use the technology throughout the Oppama plant by 2019, and in overseas plants in the future. During a demonstration Monday, a Leaf car with no one inside scooted along the road, pulling a trailer with three other Leafs on it, stopped properly for other vehicles, and then veered into a parking lot. But one vehicle ran into trouble, refused to move and was not able to take part in the demonstration. Driverless cars are still not allowed on regular public roads in Japan, although major automakers are all working on such technology.